It's too Complicated
by Eureka89
Summary: An extended scene from Shipwrecked. My first stab at Emma/Zane.


Emma dove into the water. She knew Miss Chatham would be safe with Lewis. She swam as fast as she could to the sinking boat, to Zane. As she approached the ship she looked into a window. Zane had already given up. His body was being starved of oxygen and Emma hoped if he saw her he would only think of it as a dream. She pulled on the door but it wouldn't budge. So she backed up and slammed her tail into the door until it buckled. Zane had become slightly aware of something happening and looked in the direction of the ajar door.

Emma grabbed hold of him and raced to the surface. She looked around for signs of a boat, but there were none. Mako Island was her only choice. She repositioned her hold on Zane and jetted to the island. She dragged him the best she could up the sandy shore and prayed he would not wake while she was drying off. Emma studied him carefully. His wide mouth, strong jaw and messy hair caught her attention first. They were the things she admired the most but would never admit it to anyone, part of her longed to know what it would be like to kiss those lips or run her fingers through his messy locks. Her reason told her it would never happen, that they were too different.

She scooted a little closer to him, a picture of the little mermaid crossed her mind and she smiled. It wouldn't hurt to taste his lips while he was unconscious, only she would ever know. She leaned over him and slowly lowered her head. Reason stopped her mere centimeters from his face. She couldn't do it. As she lifted her head away a hand placed its self on the back of her head and lowed it to his lips. Shocked she quickly pulled away leaving her with a tingling sensation in her stomach.

"Miriam?" his voice was a bit hoarse.

"Stay down," she put a hand on his chest keeping him down, "You should rest some more before getting up."

"Did you see that fish?"

"You'll have to be more specific." Emma said, but Zane had already faded back into unconsciousness. She sighed and rolled away from Zane to keep her temptations to a minimum. As she stared off into the rolling waves she could hear his question repeating in her head. She felt relieved that he hadn't seen her face, but also sad somewhere deep down. Zane was probably the worst person she could think of to know a secret as big as this one. He would find a way to make money off of it with no regard to her.

Her legs were reappearing and she looked at Zane's sleeping form one more time, only he wasn't there. She ran over to the place where he had been laying. Foot prints headed in the direction opposite of her, going down the beach. She followed them quickly, panic over taking her. He came into her line of sight after a few frantic minutes, still walking down the beach. Emma picked up the pace and grabbed for his arm. He kept walking not noticing her.

"Zane I can explain." She said quickly.

"Explain what Emma?" He looked at her briefly, "That crazy old woman set me up. There was no treasure in there; she was trying to get rid of me."

"That's not true and you know it." Emma said harshly, "Her treasure could have been pictures or something. It's not always money."

They walked in an awkward silence for a while. Emma still worried that he saw her tail and wondering why he hadn't brought it up yet.

"You were asking about a fish the first time you woke." She started blushing at the memory.

"I saw something down there. The more I think about it the less it seems like a fish. It was huge."

"A shark or a dolphin?"

"No, it had orange scales and was elegant. It saved my life." He stopped and turned to her, "Did you see anything?"

"No," she looked down and to the left trying to hide her smile, "nothing."

"Of course not. Where's the Zodiac?"

"Back the way we came." She turned around and walked away from him, glancing back once to see if he followed. She knew he would stay on the beach there was no danger of him finding the moon pool. She went back to his boat and sat down beside it, resting her head on the big red side. He would return when he was ready. Emma began to doze off, the sun warming her skin in just the right way. Not long after she woke up to a wet feeling under her hand. She opened her eyes and saw that the tide was coming in. Zane still wasn't around so she ran into the ocean. Her tail appeared in record time, something she would have to brag to Rikki when she returned to the mainland.

"Emma?" she heard her name clearly under the water and surfaced. Zane was by his boat looking around and calling for her. She only tread water and stared at him. He ran all over the beach, messing up any foot prints he could have used, then looked toward the woods.

"Over here." She said with the moon pool in mind.

He jerked around and quickly locked eyes with her. Still, she didn't move.

"What are you doing?" he asked over the roar of the waves.

"I was waiting for my clothes to dry. I fell asleep and the tide soaked me." She made up.

"What does that have to do with you being in the water?" He didn't believe her.

"I'm naked." The words escaped her mouth before she could stop them, "Go away. Go for another lap down the beach and then we can leave."

"No."

"What do you mean no? Leave!"

"Leave a naked girl about to come on the beach or walk away. Do you think I'd pass this up?"

"Fine." She returned to her underwater sanctuary and swam to the moon pool where she dried off and walked back to the Zodiac, "Where did you go now?"

"Emma!" Zane ran up behind her, "I thought you'd drowned."

"Suits you right. I was on the swim team remember. I can hold my breath longer than you think."

"Let's go." He patted her on the back and got in the Zodiac Emma followed carefully. They arrived safely at the dock here Zane kept his boat, "If you say anything other than you found me on Mako, you will pay."

"I'm so scared." She gave him an expression of mock fear, "Your secret is safe with me…as long as rumors don't start."

"Agreed. Now get off my boat."


End file.
